h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks

If I can get those done I will but I owe college three projects by the end of today that I haven't quite started yet

I have a suggestion. Do the college stuff first.

I think that's a good suggestion....

Fair enough if I was wrong on the Frodo bit (I didn't check) but things like saying the ring turned Isildur evil are just wrong and sit badly with someone who is a keen Tolkeite and want to read more.
Surely the article should be factually correct.
If one wants to steer clear of Maiar and who is one and who isn't then it should either be got right or not put in at all. Possibly the latter is better. Is word istari used at all in the main book? Without checking I would imaging it's only used in the Appendices. Why not just call Balrogs and Sauron demons or the like. It would sit better with folks like me.

Orcus

Hi Orcus, I think we all agree that if it's in Luthiena's entry, it should be 100% correct. [Luthiena, there are no new editorial suggestions in this, I'm just geeking with Orcus, OK?]

You are right about Isildur, for example, and a few people have mentioned it, but poor Luthiena has been swamped with corrections and hasn't been able to get all our suggestions in yet.

I don't think Tolkien states anywhere in the book what Bombadil is exactly, but I don't think he's a Maia. I think he is more of an earth spirit, a personification of Middle Earth itself.

Anyhow, all this stuff about Maiar is irrelevant for LOTR, and belongs properly in Gnomon's Silmarillion entry. I think Gandalf mumbles something about having been Olorin at some point, and Legolas mentions that Durin's Bane is "A Balrog of Morgoth" (and screams like a girl!),
and that's about it for the Maiar in LOTR. Similarly, the Valar get pretty short shrift.

It's interesting that a book with such a detailed religious back-drop and such Christian themes actually seems to have no active religion or religious people in it. Perhaps this is why it doesn't trigger the same reaction as C.S. Lewis's stuff, which many people hate because they find the religious content too overt or preachy. I found 'That Hideous Strength' tough going in spots for that reason myself, even though there are many powerful passages.

Zube

Well I'll come back to this later but right now I'm going to

"tough going in spots"

I agree, the Valar, Maiar and Istari should most definitely be in a Silmarillion entry. I think they're better left out of this entry.
If one reads the Unfinished tales one will see various ideas Tolkein had for the Istari, Galadriel etc. and I don't think even he ever came to a definitive conclusion as to what they are/were. Bombadil and Goldberry, well who knows, I guess we are free to draw our own conclusions . It even puts across an idea he had of Gandalf being the final manifestation of Manwe upon Middle Earth.

Or for GuideML you can use the special character codes: <./>GuideML-Characters</.>

Oops, missed a page. Post 149 refers back to the keyboard issue.

Thanks for the help, I will try and change the characters and see what I can do about the whole Maia, Istari thing

Regarding the insertion of fadaí: simply hold down Ctrl+Alt while you type the letter, eg: á=Ctrl+Alt+a, Á=Ctrl+Alt+SHIFT+a.

re: Religeon: JRRT did not intend the book to be about religeon, it was mainly intended to give England a body of myth comparable the Celtic legends and Scandanavian sagas.

re: LOTR as allegory: I believe he also said that if it was allegorical, then Saruman would have created his own One Ring.

re: Maiar, Valar, Coolar, etc: I agree that they should not be in this entry, just call Sauron the main baddy or something, Gandalf and Saruman would simply be wizards, etc.

re: Enterprise vs Star Destroyer: If Darth Vader is present, there is no way Kirk can possibly win.

This entry is primarily non-denominational geekishness, except for the first scentence.

PS Our plan is working...Soon GreyDesk will be part of The Collective...wait, should I have said that out loud?

Thanks I'll bear that in mind when I'm changing the article, it won't be for a little while as I have a lot on my plate in RL

I think I'm done now, if I've missed out anybody's corrections I'm and please feel free to shout at me..

*crosses her fingers*

Please let it be finished....please...

My last nitpick, Luthiena:

The Two Towers: Shelob is not killed, only wounded and driven off.

Good job, this entry is very comprehensive, and now virtually error free!


Zube

The Ring did not turn Isildur into an evil creature, please remove that as the book does not say this

Uruk Hai are a cross between Orcs/Goblins (same thing different names) and Men I believe.

other than that a great article

Actually, orcs and goblins are different. Orcs are bigger, meaner, nastier, and perhaps even slightly smarter, plus can walk in the sun without turning to stone. This has little if anything to do with the entry, however.

I'm not certain about this, but isn't there a reference in The Hobbit to 'the Orcs of the mountains' as larger types of goblin?

I'm 19, and wondering about my powers of memory...

What an article! Talk about walking where fears to tread. The following are *really* nitpicky.

*general note - if you're talking about the One Ring - make sure to capitalize Ring
*'The Books' - might add more detail about the publishing - going to be one book, but split into 3 - 'The Hobbit' being a preface of sorts
*I would need to check, but I think elves aren't completely mortal - I think Tolkein lists a couple of ways that they can die
*'Istari' - new sentence needed at "The most powerful..." - you might also mention that Saruman adopts the the term 'of many colours' after his corruption and is no longer white at that point
*'Orcs' - new sentence at "They are used as..."
*villians = villains
*'The Ring' - you don't need 2 paras here - just combine them - also, need a comma after '...is an inanimate object'
*'Frodo Baggins' - capitalize 'Ring of Power'
*'Samwise Gamgee' - to keep the first sentence parallel, you need to say "...one of the strongest and most loyal hearts..." - need new sentence at "He stays true, loyal..." and again at "He marries..."
*Was Deagol a friend or brother to Smeagol? Haven't read it in long enough that I don't remember.
*'Smeagol' - new sentence at "He is finally let free..." also need a comma after "Once he has found the Ring..."
*'Aragorn' - capitalize 'Ranger'
*'Boromir' - capitalize 'Fellowship'
*'Eowyn & Eomer' - mention that they're brother/sister; capitalize Witch-king; '...ends up with Faramir.' sounds like since he was the only other unwed male she wasn't related to, she decided to marry him just opinion
*'Denethor' - new sentence at "He and his forefathers..."
*'Theoden' - put the sentence that starts "Theoden rides to the aid..." with the one just before it - no need for it to have its own para and put the sentence that begins "He helps Saruman..." with the one before it
*'Isildur' - new sentence at "It corrupted..." - also, Isildur was weak-willed, not evil and the Ring betrayed him to his death
*'Gandalf' - in para 3 - either use 'elvish' or 'elven' for both rings & ships
*'Saruman' - minor grammar thing - change first sentence to "...kindly wizard to whom all went..."
*'Legolas' - new sentence at "His elvish precision..." and a comma after "...gulls from the ocean..."
*'Galadriel' - new sentence at "He trusts the decisions of..."
*'Fellowship'
-no apostrophe in free peoples
-no comma after '...to Bree where...'
-capitalize Ranger
-Doesn't someone named Bolger go with them? They all stay in at house at Crickhollow for a while before the flight to Bree
-you might think about adding a section for magical-type objects such as the gifts from Galadriel and the Palantir
*'Two Towers'
-Merry & Pippin are in the hands of Uruk-Hai, not just orcs
-new sentence at "They search into Fangorn..."
-fro = for
-don't they go to Helm's Deep, not Isengard?
-new sentence at "He then sees the Eye..."
*'Return of the King'
-Aragorn takes the Path to call up the lost souls - think they have another name, but don't remember what it is
-might mention that Gimli & Legolas go with him
-...Riders (plural) of Rohan arrive...
-might mention that Frodo and Sam are mistaken for orcs after they don armor and are driven along with a force that was assembled to go to the Black Gate
-might rearrange the sentence that starts "Gollum who, driven..." to read "Driven mad by his desire for the Ring, Gollum bites..."
-in the last para, forgot should be forget
-doesn't Sam eventually leave as well? or am I imagining that?

Very good article - certainly a topic I wouldn't have wanted to do. You've handled the subject and the critiques quite gracefully. Hope the nitpicking helps instead of hinders. Good luck with getting it into the EG!

I will make those changes later today, promise!